Heuristic minimization of BDDs using don't cares

Abstract

We present heuristic algorithms for finding a minimum BDD size cover of an incompletely specified function, assuming the variable ordering is fixed. In some algorithms based on BDDs, incompletely specified functions arise for which any cover of the function will suffice. Choosing a cover that has a small BDD representation may yield significant performance gains. We present a systematic study of this problem, establishing a unified framework for heuristic algorithms, proving optimality in some cases,and presenting experimental results.